Multiverse
by Arivania Moons
Summary: Come, gather 'round you who like to glimpse the worlds of 'what-if', of 'could-have-been', of 'should-have-been'. Let me show you what's just beyond this window, this mirror. Let me show you the tales untold, the stories left forgotten to space and time. Come, let me show you. Perhaps you'll enjoy what you find.
1. Secrets

**I've decided to make a place to dump Transformers one-shots in hopes of quenching plot bunnies until I've finished my other Transformers stories. If I don't do this, I'll fall into my old habits and I don't want that to happen. So, a little back story on this first one-shot. It's a possible story idea I'm not sure I'll turn into a full story, but I want it written down here in case I never write it. The premise is that Miko and Jack are actually twins in the Witness Protection Program who haven't seen each other since they were eight years old. Their parents are well-known criminals referred to as the Crimson Blade and the Crimson Bullet, who are both mass murderers. Miko was sent to live in Japan, her past erased and a new name assigned while her care takers, a pair of agents, were given special make-up kits to make themselves look like her biological parents. The same happened to Jack, only he was given to a single caretaker, June, and was sent to live in Jasper, Nevada. Miko coming to Jasper is her chance to see her twin again, but they have to put on an act for the world to see.**

* * *

 _ **Secrets**_

They hadn't seen each other since that fateful day all those years ago, when their parents were finally apprehended for a short time. It was the first time anyone besides their parents had been aware the twins existed, the first time they had ever learned what their parents had never told them. The government had torn the twins apart, told them it was unsafe to stay together. They had hated the government for it, but had to play the role they'd been given.

On that fateful day, Jackson Darby and Miko Nakadai were "born."

He was sent to Jasper, Nevada and given to one June Darby, his back story simple. He had lived with his father until he was eight years old, when he was sent to live with his mother. The two had never been married and June had not wanted Jack at first, but was now ready to be his mother. He was raised on organic tofu and raised to be the exact opposite of his birth parents. Even so, their escape from authorities haunted his dreams, tormenting him with the idea they would find him over the years.

She was sent to live in Tokyo, Japan to be raised opposite to Jack, but still nothing like her birth parents. She was handed over to Haru and Hikari Nakadai, was rarely disciplined, and was given the back story of a generic, well-off girl. She, like her brother, was happy, even if she missed her twin. Like him, the threat of her parents finding her was nightmare inducing.

Then came the Autobots, the biggest risk of their life. An excuse to stay together, a reason for her to never return to Japan. It hurt, to continue the charade, the lie when it came to the Autobots and Raf. It hurt them to never be able to shed the fake lives they had built, to never be true to who they were around them. There were times that they wondered if Agent Fowler knew of the truth, of who they were.

He knew that no one suspected, as Optimus would have never given him the Key if he knew who Jack's parents were. The Crimson Blade and the Crimson Bullet had become even bigger threats in the U.S. now, the two killers still evading authority. They were mainly around the big, bustling cities like Chicago and New York. They had yet to move south, had yet to suggest they knew where Jack and Miko were.

Sometimes, the two would meet under the cover of darkness, would speak as freely as they dared. Other times, they would speak openly in front of the others in the form of banters before and after she did something "dangerous," something to distraction. Their words were carefully worded, carefully coded. No one, not even Raf, had picked up on their careful code.

It couldn't last, she knew, as she couldn't continue to lie to them. It hurt too much, especially when she had to lie to Bulkhead. She knew Jack struggled to lie to Optimus, struggled to not beg the leader to help them. The two knew that they had chosen two separate Cybertronians to look to as the parent they could have had, the parent they never got.

It was then that it happened, shortly after the whole Unicron/Orion Pax debacle. The Crimsons had been on the move, were heading south then. Fowler knew, but he didn't say a word. He often looked at them and they could see the fear, the distrust, the blame. He hated the twins and they could not blame him.

They hated themselves for their lies, their parentage, their past soaked in the blood of innocents.

It was why, in the night, they met once more. They were alone, on the edge of Jasper and their guardians were in recharge, their host families asleep. They stared silently at each other, neither of them wearing the disguises they grew up wearing. For the first time in forever, they were allowed to see each other as they once always had. Bright blue eyes met bright blue eyes, two heads of black hair gently flowing in the very slight wind. Her hair was still dyed with pink.

"I missed you."

Neither was sure which of them whispered the words, but the others eyes conveyed they felt the same.

"I can't keep lying, not to him."

A sentiment shared and again neither was sure who had spoken.

"It hurts, lying to them and being away from you."

"I want to go home."

The statements were small, insignificant and yet held so much impact. They were in pain and were forced to hide it by a world that just didn't know or understand. Finally, they embraced, finally they wept and sobbed. Finally, they felt the facades fade away, leaving a pair of scarred and scared sixteen-year-old kids. Why did they have to be apart to be safe? Why did they have to lie to those closest to them?

They both spoke, but neither took note of who said what because they shared the same thoughts. They were twins through and through, they always could tell just by the other's eyes what they were thinking. Their skin was currently paler than it usually was, for they wore a special type of body make-up to make it look like they weren't who they really were. It also exposed the scars upon them, the scars they had carefully hidden for years.

As they held each other close and cried, lamenting a past they wished they didn't have, neither was aware of the semi truck parked not too far off, keeping watch over them as they cried.

* * *

 **This one felt a little weird to write and I, personally, felt my heart going out to these two. Don't know how this will be received, don't really expect much. Still, I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into the AU where Jack and Miko are twin children of a pair of murderers.**


	2. Suprise Adoption

**I've decided that I won't respond to reviews in this, since it would just be a little too hard to do that. Anyways, onto the next universe! Once more set in the _Prime_ cluster of universes, by the way! The backstory on this one is that Vince corners Jack one day without Arcee around (mission) and both end up getting kidnapped by Decepticons. However, not all is as it seems as Soundwave has recently learned that, yes, Frenzy and Rumble are offline and Megatron had _finally_ decided that Starscream is the worst idea for a Decepticon heir.**

* * *

 _ **Surprise Adoption**_

Vincent Black wasn't entirely sure what to think about the events that had transpired in the last hour or so. Everything had seemed normal and he had finally cornered Darby to teach the boy a lesson about _daring_ to embarrass him in front of Sierra. He couldn't quite remember what Darby had done to embarrass him, all he knew was that Sierra had seen it and that was the worst thing that could have ever happened.

Turns out, it wasn't worth it to target Darby. Apparently being even _vaguely_ associated with Darby meant being associated with whatever the fuck an "Autobot" was, thus making one a target for giant robots from Mars called "Decepticons." Or, at least, that was what Vince understood from what Darby had told him. That wasn't the most disturbing part, of course, as it one of the strange "Decepticons" had _apparently_ decided that Darby and Vince were close enough to twins and had now claimed title as their new "mother."

 _Note to self,_ Vince thought as he banged his head against the wall of their "enclosure," _Never get involved with Darby_ ever _again when this is over._ Though, it didn't matter apparently. As it turned out, the moment he was free, he would be forced to be around Darby a whole lot more because of how much these "Autobots" were absolute mother hens. It creeped Vince out how Darby had gotten when speaking of the Autobots - _no one_ should look _that_ happy about being around giant robots that were _sentient_.

"You're going to give yourself brain damage if you keep doing that."

"What's it to you?" Vince asked, turning to glare at Darby.

The smug little goody-two-shoes was sitting, knees bent and arms resting on his knees, against the opposite wall of their little 'cell'. His head was leaning on the wall too, making it tilted so Darby was looking at the ceiling, which was hundreds of feet above them. Vince was certain the spoilt little brat was internally gloating over how stupid Vince probably looked right now and that angered him.

"I don't think that Sierra or your parents would be happy if you came home injured."

Vince practically snarled at Darby, thinking about how much he would love to pummel the obsidian-haired boy. He didn't notice the lack of hostility from Darby, the lack of malice in his words. All he knew was that his pride as being "alpha male" was being damaged by someone he was certain would be a runty omega if they were wolves. Vince hated how the boy before him never cowered in fear, never truly reacted to his taunts, his insults, his harmful words and actions. Jackson Darby was an absolute _saint_ and he _hated_ it.

He wasn't jealous that Darby had his own job, wasn't jealous that Darby was independent of his single mother, wasn't jealous that Darby was on the good side of all the teachers, because Vince didn't _get_ jealous. Everyone got jealous of _him_ and Darby's saint-ness was Darby trying to make a fool out of Vince. Darby was the jealous one. After all, Vince had _everything_. A girlfriend, a kickass car, plenty of friends, and was a _racer_. Darby had two friends, was rather poor, and had only some stupid bike of some sort that was likely from a scrapyard.

"You know..." Darby continued, intent on conversation it seemed. "This is actually the Decepticons being... _Nice_."

Did Darby just shudder? Isn't it better if the aliens were being nice?

"They're usually trying to kill me or at least torture me. Maybe use me for an experiment, if Screamer is particularly in a good mood. Use me as a hostage if Buck Head is in a good mood, maybe."

 _Those_ were if these Decepticons were in a good mood? Okay, so _maybe_ Darby had a few reasons to be suspicious and creeped out at the moment, Vince had to admit. Even so, he couldn't help but think that Darby was acting a little _too_ much like this was an every day occurrence. Darby was a wimp - there was no way that Darby could handle something like this _all_ the time, this kind of threat.

Then why wasn't Darby acting _scared_?

"Ah! Soundwave! Just the 'Con I was hoping to see!"

 _Oh,_ God _, not that voice!_ Vince shuddered at the sound of the overly flamboyant Decepticon. _Nothing_ screamed "I'm a faggot" _more_ than the voice of this particular alien.

"The sparklings have been behaving wonderfully! Granted, they don't seem to be getting along all that well either. Probably because they currently lack a bond, but that should be changed as soon as I finish the Cyberformating Chamber!"

The Cyber- _what_ chamber?! _That doesn't sound good_ , Vince thought, staring at Darby. Darby's head had snapped up and he was tense, spine straight. Vince had never seen such fear in Darby's eyes before and it was downright unnerving.

 _"Reformatting-shall-happen-soon?"_ a spliced together recording inquired, sending a chill down the spine of Vince.

"D-Darby," Vince whispered, desperately trying to keep his voice from cracking. "What's going on?"

"Why, yes!" the flamboyant Decepticon agreed. "I daresay that we should be ready to Reformat them by the end of the megacycle! After all, I need to test this before we dare try to Reformat them!"

Darby was incredibly pale, making Vince nervous. The boy wasn't answering him, grey-blue eyes wide and dark, as if Darby was trapped in his own mind. Why was Darby reacting so badly to this?

 _"Do-not-disappoint. Megatron-wants-his-heirs-ready soon. I want-my-sparklings-soon-too."_

"But of course Soundwave!" That voice was much too cheerful. "They'll be in their proper sparkling bodies before you know it! Won't the Autobots be surprised when they discover what's become of one of their precious humans - heir of the Decepticons! Son of Soundwave and Megatron, ruthless Prince of Destruction! I imagine you've chosen their new names already?"

 _"Yes. The-red-one-will-be-Rampage. The-true-heir-will-be-Ricochet."_

Vince froze as his mind processed what they just heard, suddenly understanding what had Darby so terrified. They were going to be "reformatted" into alien robots. They were going to be brainwashed and _raised to destroy their own race_. Vince couldn't help it when he started shaking, staring up as their kidnapper peered into their cell, the blank screen revealing nothing. This... _Thing_ wanted to change his species, to replace his family. All because of his connection to _Darby_.

It was official. Vince was going to kill Darby the first chance he got.

* * *

 **I'm not sure I like how this came out, but it's just a rough draft. A peek into what could become a story one day. I'm currently toying with the idea of Vince becoming the Starscream to Jack's Megatron. You know, with a _lot_ of bitching and failed assassination attempts. Annnd now I want to write a Reverse Shattered Glass... If you don't know what Shattered Glass is, it's basically switching the Autobots and Decepticons' roles. A Reverse is switching the roles of the Cybertronians and the Humans. The only Reverse I have seen before comes from _Ardent Aspen_ , an amazing Author, in her booklet of one-shots called Mirrors. I imagine a Reverse Shattered Glass is basically combining Reverse and Shattered Glass... In other words, taking the humans, switching them with the Cybertronians, and _then_ switching the two humans factions. Hmm... Maybe I'll try that after I write the next Universe Glimpse, as I've taking to calling these one-shots.**

 **Have a good rest of your twenty-four hours!**


	3. Chance

**It took _forever_ to figure out what to write next. I have writer's block like you all would not _believe_ , my gods. Anyways, this one is a three-way crossover because I could not get this out of my head. Oh, and about that Reverse Verse I was thinking of typing up - yeah, that's not happening until I can get a few things straightened out, so I don't know what the next Glimpse after this one will be. Anyways, there's no background knowledge for this because this will provide that background knowledge and lay the foundation for a possible future fanfic. You can blame my current interest in Harry Potter Fanfics, by the way, for this Glimpse. Have a good rest of your solar cycle!**

 **P.S.: This will not be set in the 1980s. This will instead be set 1990s-early 2000s to make timelines fit.**

* * *

 _ **Chance**_

Life is a game of chance, if one honestly, truly thought about it. Whether or not one believed in God, gods, or science, life was still a game of _chance_. There was a chance it would be a sunny, a chance it would rain, a chance so-and-so would be arrested, a chance that someone would die in a car accident. Life and death, birth and murder, were the ultimate rolls of the dice. Ultimate gambles of absolute chance. And so, it was mere chance that four stars that should have never aligned, did align.

Emily Rain was born and raised on the street known as Private Drive, a street she eventually got her own house on as well. She lived in Number Eight, Private Drive, in face, just up the street from, only a house away, really, Number Four, where the Dursleys lived. Emily had never met the Dursleys herself, but her next door neighbor at Number Six, Mrs. Cinnamon, refused to stop gossiping about them. Mrs. Cinnamon would go on-and-on about how they were absolutely the _worst_ case of child-spoiling she had ever seen and how their son, Dudley, would never amount to anything productive or contributive in life or to society. It could be rather tiresome to hear about.

It just so happened that, by chance, one rainy day in august, Emily found herself out of work. She had been suspended without pay for something she had not done, which was completely destroy the bathrooms of the fast-food restaurant she worked at. It was complete chance that Mrs. Figg was out of town when Mr. and Mrs. Dursley won a two-person ticket to go on a cruise. However, because this happened, Emily immediately volunteered to babysit their son for the two weeks they were gone.

Dudley Dursley was an absolute _nightmare_ and within the first day, Emily absolutely regretted having offered to take the boy in. It was late at night when she decided to go for a stroll, having _finally_ gotten the little rodent into bed. It was also the fifth day, leaving just nine more days to go. On her way back to her home, she happened to be walking right in front of Number Four when chance struck again. The light in the house was on, causing Emily to stop and frown at the building. That wasn't right - no one should be there.

Emily, of course, did the sensible thing and immediately called the police. She feared a thief, a robber had broken into the Dursley's home. What the police found, instead, completely rewrote how the entire neighborhood saw the Dursley's, the coming of the police waking up _everyone_. Little Dudley, calling the poor little boy who lived in cupboard under the stairs a "freak", proved that the small, black-haired child _lived_ in Number Four. Emily was horrified to find the boy horribly malnourished and the entire street was in an uproar at the contrast in treatment between the two little boys that shared a house.

Within a week of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley's return to their home, Emily had managed to secure custody of the sweet little boy while Dudley was sent to live with his Aunt and the Dursley's were jailed for child neglect. Emily didn't pay attention to their bail charge or to the length of their sentence, immediately focusing on her sweet new little boy, whom she learned was named "Harry Potter", not that the boy had known that. She decided to keep his name a "Harry" and changed his last name to Rain. They did not know his middle name, so she left that alone.

Once the entire fiasco was done with, Emily was approached by a man named Remus Lupin, who had caught wind of what happened. He was apparently an old friend of his parents and told her everything she needed to know about little Harry. She might not have believed Remus had she not caught Harry playing with a snake (one that was acting shockingly docile) or seen Remus turn her phone into a turnip briefly. Somehow, Remus had been the only one to receive word about the trial of the Dursley's and Harry's change in custody in the Wizarding World (he'd told her that most wizards were horribly arrogant). Remus told her that Harry's middle name was James and urged her to leave the country with Harry, which in turn caused her to request that Remus come with her. Remus could not help but agree.

That was how Emily Rain, a normal woman by most definitions, found herself with the custody of a five-year-old wizard and a werewolf for a new roommate. They ended up moving to America and settling down in Manhattan, New York. They lived in peace for nearly a year before Emily, who had legally changed her name to Beatrice Lighthouse once gaining citizenship in America, found herself in custody of a six-year-old boy who was just barely a few weeks younger than Harry, who had the new last name of Lighthouse as well (Remus had also taken the name Lighthouse, the two claiming to be cousins).

It had been a somewhat stormy day, but without wind, lightning, or thunder, though any body of water still raged as though there was, when a knock had come to the door of the Lighthouse apartment. On the landing outside, absurdly dry, cradling a sleeping toddler with a tear-stained face in one arm and holding a trident in one hand, was a man dressed in a fishing shirt, kaki shorts, flip-flops, and a fishing hat. The little black-haired boy he was holding, who looked shockingly like Harry, was also suspiciously dry. As Beatrice, formerly Emily, stared at the trident, the man gave a weak chuckle.

"I see you're clear-sighted," the man said. "Yes, that's a trident. May I come in? I have a favor to ask of you and I promise that the explanation behind it will explain the trident. I can sense the magic in this house, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Beatrice? Who is it?" she heard Remus, who had kept his original first name but was wearing glamour to look more like he was related to her and to also hide his former identity, call.

"Just a visitor, Remmy," Beatrice called back to the man, whom she had become quite close friends with since the two had started living together. "Sure, c'mon on in."

And so the man, sighing in relief, came in. The toddler was laid down in Harrys' room with Harry watching over the other boy, promising to come right to Beatrice if the six-year-old woke up.

"So," Beatrice said cautiously, "who are you and why did you show up with your kid?"

"My name is Poseidon," the man replied, seeing no reason to lie to the woman. "By Poseidon, I mean Greek god of the ocean and all those other titles I have. That toddler in the other room is my son, Perseus Jackson, and a demigod."

This led into an explanation about demigods in the real world, about Camp Half-Blood, and how demigods were hunted down by all those ancient Greek monsters. As it turned out, Sally Jackson and her husband, Gabriel Ugliano, had been mauled to death by Hell Hounds. Poseidon had only arrived in time to save his son's life, having been keeping an eye on the boy because of how much he loved his son. Poseidon had been headed towards Camp Half-Blood over at Long Island, actually, when he had sensed the magic of Harry and Remus by chance. As it turned out, magical signatures somehow blocked a demigod's scent when the magic wasn't from that pantheon (the wizards had apparently broken off from the Egyptian pantheon's magicians years back, hence the need for a medium of some sort) and it helped even more that Remus was a werewolf.

Of course, Percy, just like Harry, came with some baggage in the form of bloody prophecy, only this one was much, much worse. This, of course, also led to an explanation about WWII and the Pact of the Big Three and the possible consequences placed on Percy because Poseidon had by chance fallen for Sally, who had _supposedly_ been barren. Of course, Beatrice found that, like with Harry, she just _could not_ turn the poor little boy away. And so, Beatrice found herself with the custody of one six-year-old little boy who had no other relatives to turn to and happened to be a _demigod_ of all things.

Percy had taken the news about his adoption relatively well and was rather grown-up for a six-year-old, leading Beatrice to learn about the fact that Gabe had been abusive. Harry and Percy actually bonded over their experiences with abuse/neglect by someone who was supposed to be caring towards them and the two quickly became like twins instead of adopted siblings. In fact, when Beatrice and Remus moved to Jasper, Nevada (they could _not_ possibly stay in the shadow of the Empire State Building - it was much too dangerous! Oh, and the desert hid Percy's hydrokinesis very well), Beatrice found people asking if it was hard raising a pair of twins despite having her cousin around. She didn't have the heart to correct anyone that she wasn't their birth mother (they all had black hair and some form of resemblance, so it wasn't too surprising they were being mistaken for a blood-family) and the boys also did not correct the fact that they were not twins. In fact, a year after Percy came into their lives, he demanded that he and Harry share a birthday like "all twins do". How could she possibly deny her little boys?

Since they had moved again, once again names had been changed. Harry and Percy kept their original names of "Harry James" and "Perseus" - Percy didn't have a middle name - while Beatrice and, this time, Remus changed their full names. They did it legally of course. This was how Jasper came to know "the Darbys", which, as far as the town was concerned, consisted of Juniper "June" Darby, Perseus "Percy" Darby, Harry James Darby, and Alexander "Alex" Darby.

It was two years after Percy came to live with them, in the year 2000, when June, formerly Beatrice and Emily, found herself saddled with a third, and final, child. June had been traveling all the way to the next town over to receive schooling for a medical degree so she could become a nurse at Jasper General, which meant that Alex, formerly Remus, had to watch Harry and Percy when they weren't at school (the two had turned into a pair of little pranksters on her somehow). It was late and June was about half-way back to Jasper and she was very, very exhausted, as she had to get up early and go to bed late to make the trip, when it happened.

June had slammed on her breaks to watch wide-eyed as, just a quarter of a mile away from her, something slammed into the ground. She saw the sands of the desert shift and _felt_ the earth shake from the impact. June stared at where the dark, billowing smoke and the dying glow of something previously on fire was. She weighed her options before she finally decided to check it out. She shut off her car and walked over to it.

By chance, that "something" turned out to be an alien space pod. By chance, said space pod had broken open and inside came the sounds of wailing. The pod itself was completely silver in color and was leaking a strange fluid, one that had a scent that burned June's nose. The liquid was a glowing blue that was a shade she had never seen before, an alien shade. As the wails encased in static continued, June pushed forward despite the smell. The wails sounded like the recording of a baby crying, concerning her greatly.

When June peered into the crashed pod, however, she gasped in utter shock. There, on the seat in the insanely large pod, was being just about her size, but was very clearly a baby. It was wailing, a strange fluid dripping from it's eyes that did not _smell_ like tears. It was different and _look_ different than tears. The little being had the strangest shade of blue eyes she had ever seen and it was made entirely of metal. It was mostly silver, but in some areas there was something like an outer shell growing, a protective casing of some kind. It was mainly a midnight blue or dark grey color, but some spots were as black as she had seen space it be in pictures. June was so entranced in shock by the little creature that it took her a moment to realize that it had stopped wailing and was staring right back, eerily silent.

June didn't know what to do, but the little being let out a static-y giggle and reached out for her. It made a strange, coo-like _click-whir_ sound at her as it reached towards her, as if asking _'are you my mommy?'_ She wasn't really sure how to react, but something inside of her, some deep instinct made her reach back. When her hand made contact with the smooth, slippery metal the little one was made out of, she could not help but wonder if it was covered in some kind of liquid. Shortly after she made contact, however, her knees felt week as a sudden spark went through her body.

When June was next aware of her surroundings, she felt as if she had been briefly blinded by a strange light. She was lying on the large seat in the broken pod, alerting her that it hadn't been a dream. Yet the strange being was just _gone_ and a little boy was leaning over her with eyes much too intelligent for a boy who looked to be about ten years old. June took in his appearance and felt her eyes go wide in shock. He had her storm-blue eyes, pale skin, and messy black hair. She stared at the boy who suddenly giggled.

"New Mommy okay?" the little boy asked.

June's heart promptly melted at the sound of the little boy's voice and she knew that he was right. She made first contact with this odd little boy, who she had an odd feeling was little alien she had been staring at before, and he was hers now. He had no one else and she would look into legally adopting him as soon as possible. By the end of the week, she had completed her goal, leaving her in custody of three overly curious little boys who were utterly inseparable. This was how Jackson "Jack" Darby entered the family and June always smiled at the look on Harry and Percy's face when they met the strange little replica of their mother.

Over the years as June raised her boys, they quickly became known as the Darby Triplets and became quite well known in little Jasper, Nevada. Percy was the bad-boy who also got in trouble and defended his family from everything and never got bullied. He eventually became the hottest and most sought after boy in town with a perfect smile. Harry, despite his scrawny and weak appearance, became the best soccer and basketball player in town as he grew. He also had a few close friends while Percy was social butterfly as the years went on, though he gave June and Alex, formerly Emily and Remus, a heart attack when he returned home with an invitation to Ilvermorny on day of his eleventh birthday (they had been briefly terrified it was Hogwarts letter and Britain had found them).

Jack was the "odd" one of the family, a goody-two-shoes, if one would. He was the physically weakest and loved to tinker with things. Percy and Harry loved their brother and defended him always, though Jack disliked violence and was rather shy. He was a bookworm and loved to learn about things, especially history. Unlike Percy and Harry, Jack didn't do sports or anything social, really.

June loved her boys all the same, even if Percy drove her up the wall with his pranks and bad behavior. It was a tough day when a satyr and three kids found Percy, wanting his help in a war that would start on Percy's sixteenth birthday. However, the trouble that Harry and Percy would get into starting at ages eleven and fourteen respectively would never compare to what started when her three boys turned seventeen. The day that June finally learned the truth of where Jack came from, even if the boy never remembered it and June never told a soul.

Looking back on her life, June never regretted taking in those three little boys who had nowhere else to go. Even so, she wished that each of them came with a warning for just how hectic things would get. She knew of the two prophecies, but she was never told just how atrocious their luck would be. Even so, June was so happy to have raised her precious Darby Triplets, even if they were not truly triplets.

To think that it all could have never happened. That it all only happened by chance, but the aligning of stars that should never have crossed paths.

* * *

 **I'm not really sure about the way I ended it, but the last bit was rather hard to do. This is meant to serve as a prologue of sorts, but only a rough-draft prologue. If I ever do turn this into a fully story like I hope to eventually, then there may be changes made to this prologue. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this Glimpse! *waves* Have a good rest of your 24 hours!**


	4. Alike

**Okay! So, at the end of _Surprise Adoption_ , I mentioned doing a Reverse Universe idea. Well, here's a one-shot glimpse at what that idea might look like! *grins* This is taken from... I forget which episode, but it's basically the Reverse Universe version of "Like... Jack." Really, the only background you need is who is who. Also, this is a rough draft and will have a few things that probably won't actually be in the fanfic should I ever get around to making an actual fanfic about it. One such thing will probably be the fact that Miko is here when she shouldn't be, I don't think that the Iacon Database was around in this episode,So, here's who is who:**

 **Jomei Pharaoh takes the role of Optimus Prime.**

 **William Lennox takes the role of Arcee.**

 **William Fowler takes the role of Bulkhead.**

 **Dr. Rafael Esquavel takes the role of Ratchet.**

 **Miko Nakadai takes the role of Wheeljack.**

 **Samuel Witwicky takes the place of Bumblebee (though he does not actually appear and is only mentioned).**

 **Orion Pax takes the role of Jackson Darby.**

 **Smokescreen takes the role of Miko Nakadai.**

 **Prowl takes the role of Rafael Esquavel.**

 **ANARCHY is the counterpart to MECH.**

* * *

 ** _Alike_**

"I'm starting to think either cameras like Sam or Sam likes cameras," Prowl said as he went over a back-shot conspiracy site from people who agreed with ANARCHY that the council should be removed.

"There's a picture of Sam on your internet?!" Dr. Rafael asked, sounding scandalized as the young doctor whirled around to face the three Cybertronians.

"Hey, don't get a scraplet in your subspace, Med," Smokescreen grinned. "Prowler's got this."

"Please don't call me that," Prowl sighed. "And it's as simple as replacing the image with something funny." He clicked a few things on the datapad, replacing the picture of their Ethran friend with an embarassing, not true picture of Sentinel Prime all femmified.

Dr. Rafael peered down at the picture, giving a sort of strange, half-snort, half-laugh at the sight that greeted him. This caused the young Cybertronians to look at the Doctor in shock. Dr. Rafael was a rather serious, I-dont-babysit type, so it was shocking to hear the Doctor sort-of laugh. However, it gave Orion an idea. He had never heard Jomei Pharaoh laugh and the man had been working much to hard lately.

"Hey, Jomei," Orion called, a touch hesitant. "Want to see something funny?"

Jomei glanced at the youngling from the corner of his eye and saw the hopeful look there. The Pharaoh inwardly promised to take Orion aside to do something fun later, so the youngling would stop worrying so much. However, for now, he would have to disappoint the mechling. He could not take the time when he was so close to decoding his mother's work, work that could lead them to something helpful.

"No."

Jomei felt his heart clench at the crestfallen look Orion took at the negative reply.

"Don't take it personally," Lennox said with a smirk when he noticed Orion's crestfallen face. "It's just how Pharaohs are built."

"Never seen Jomei laugh, cry, or lose the lid on his fuse," Bill stated.

Miko hummed thoughtfully as she approached the group. "Well, there was this one time..."

"Miko," Raf warned, not looking up from where he had returned to his work. Miko scowled at the doctor. "C'mon doc! It's nothing top secret. Just," here, she smirked. "Interesting things he did in his youth."

"And you would know because you've known him the longest," Lennox sighed, shaking his head. Now Orion's interest was peaked, but he wasn't going to get much information out of the others.

"But, he has changed considerably since then," Lennox continued.

"Indeed," Raf said, finally looking up. "He is different now then he was back then."

"Different how?" Smokescreen asked, sitting up. "We talking party animal?"

Miko's eyes lit up. "Well..." she drawled.

"Miko!" Raf warned.

Lennox shook his head. "No, Smokescreen. Jomei has never been one for parties," he disagreed. "In fact, thinking on it, he was more like..." the TIC's eyes fell on Orion. "Pax."

Orion blinked. "Whoa, what? I-I'm not anything like-"

"Pharaoh!" an enraged voice bellowed, causing everyone to look up at the screen.

* * *

 **I know the scene was rather short and I'm sorry about that. This is just a very small glimpse into the Reverse Universe. I would like to shout out to Cyber Rogue, who helped me write up this scene. Something I also forget to mention at the beginning was that Jomei is a Japanese name. It means "one who spreads the light." I didn't mention it above, but General Jomei Pharaoh was once Jackson Darby.**

 **You're probably also wondering why I said "Ethran" instead of "Human." I decided that, for more leeway, that they are _not_ humans. They are, from a human perspective, human-like, prehistoric giants that call themselves Ethrans. This version of Earth is called "Ethra" and is long before Pangea (is that how you spell the Supercontinent's name?). However, country names remain the same as I'm running of the idea of "History repeats itself", but in a slightly more literal sense.**

 **Have a good rest of your twenty four hours!**


	5. Family is More Than Blood

**Been a while since I wrote a Glimpse. Been a while since I sat down a wrote something, actually. I apologize for that, it's a mix of having no motivation, inspiration, and the fact my free time has been severely reduced as I have begun to adult. I now have a _job_ , part-time since I'm still in school, at one of the Taco John's where I live. I'll try to get to where I can start updating things again, but that's going to be a bit hard. Sorry, everyone.**

* * *

 _ **Family Is More Than Blood**_

"Are we sure about doing this?"

He wasn't sure which of them voiced the question - he could never be sure who was the one who spoke when they were like this. They had the same fears, doubts, hopes, and dreams, after all. They were _twins_. That's why he already knew the question's answer, and made the conscious effort to make sure it was he who voiced the answer.

"Yes. We can't keep lying to them. I've already talked to June about it, and she's agreed that it's alright to do it."

"My Hosts have agreed as well," his twin confirmed, her bright blue eyes, no longer hidden by color contacts, stared at his own. She hadn't told them about the Autobots, just that she didn't want to lie to her friends anymore.

Her eyes reminded Jack of where they had once lived, on a small little beach by a stretch of ocean free of pollution. It had water so clear that he swore he could see the bottom, and her eyes reminded him of that. It had been a prison, where they had lived with their parents and were subjected to the sadistic nature of the Crimson Duo. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that they were free of that place. It was hard to do so, though, since their parents had started to move south.

He feared that the Crimson Bullet and the Crimson Blade had finally figured out where they were. The time for lying was over. It was why they were in a back room of the base, making sure that their disguises were completely off. He stared at his twin, who he always saw as beautiful and felt lucky to be her brother. Her hair was the same color as his, the color of a raven's feathers. Their skin, over the years, had paled from the tans the twins had grown up with, living in a cottage on that lonely, remote stretch of beach. The make-up they used was mostly to hide the scars than change their skin coloring.

Funny, he wasn't sure if he remembered their birth names. He was so used to hearing their parents be called by their Media Names that he couldn't remember their names. Were they even married? He didn't think so.

"Etzli?"

He was startled out of his thoughts when she spoke, blinking a few times. _Etzli_. Now that it had been said aloud, he knew that was his real name. His _birth_ name. He remembered now, how their mother fawned over the name whenever she was in a 'good' mood.

 _"It's of Aztec origin, according to that one site. It means blood. Isn't that wonderful?"_ the mad woman would often giggle when she got on about his name.

She was obsessed with blood, sometimes going as far as to hoard the blood of her victims. He shuddered as he remembered the walk-in freezer filled with packets of blood. When they were bad, a 'minor' bad that wasn't worth a beating from their father, their mother locked them in there for about half an hour. He still had nightmares about being locked in that freezer, though sometimes it wasn't filled with blood. Sometimes it was filled with energon. He did his best not to think about it much.

"I'm okay, Lilith," he finally answered his sister. "Just... Just scared."

His twin nodded, understanding. She was scared as well, as there were so many ways that this could turn out to go wrong. They just hoped that they would still be accepted - he wasn't sure that either of them could handle it if they weren't accepted.

When they finally finished and were ready, they headed out to the main room of the base. They saw the looks of surprise from the Autobots, whom they had already told that they were going to tell them the truth. The twins couldn't help but relax however, as they saw that there was no judgement. Not even from little Raf, who looked on with something akin to wonder on his face.

What made him really relax, though, was the look on the leader's face and the look in his optics. It was almost hard to read from the Autobot, but he had learned to read the leader well. Optimus was supportive, and had a look of reassurance. Everything was going to be alright, he was finally certain of that. He knew that his twin knew this as well, and they finally opened their mouths to tell the truth. It made him smile, and realize something that was truly reassuring.

 _Blood may be thicker, but water is no less important._

* * *

 **That felt... I don't know. I don't know why I ended up writing this one, I just _did_. Anyways, it's from the same universe as the first Glimpse. I think it was the first one, anyways. It's connected to the one about Jack and Miko being twins, anyways.**


	6. Unexpected Guests

**I have it on my mind to rewrite _Unconventional Way to Heal_ , as I feel like I could have made it better. I went back a reread it recently to see where I was and noticed that it seemed to be somewhat...disjointed in a way. However, I'm not yet fully certain that I will. Once I finish working on a rough draft for a rewrite, I'll post it here in _Multiverse_ to see what you all think. I got the idea of doing that from _Ardent Aspen_ , who used their booklet of one-shots, _Mirror(s)_ (I can't remember if there is an 's' at the end or not), as a place to see how others would react to a certain story idea. Actually, _Multiverse_ as a concept was inspired by this author's one-shot booklet, so go check 'em out! Now, the Glimpse I'm doing today is another potential story idea that just kinda _exists_ in my mind, but I don't know if I'll make into an actual story. It's a Human AU (something quite rare for this fandom). Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Unexpected Guests**_

Despite being a renowned fantasy author, Orion Pax didn't put much stock in the concept of supernatural or mythological creatures. Truthfully, he actually held no belief in such things and simply used fantasy as a way to explore concepts he liked to fantasize about as a naïve boy. However, as a man of the age of twenty nine, Pax had found him quite disillusioned with the fantasies of childhood and had, indeed, turned his back on the memories. The world of adults was quite a harsh and cruel one, bringing to attention that which one wanted desperately to pretend was more fantasy than an actual fantasy.

However, on a night that was quite stormy, Pax discovered that he could not sleep. He was unsure why, but something in his gut twisted uneasily and the small hairs on the back of his neck seemed to raise. There was something wrong, and Pax had learned to never ignore his gut. Grabbing a pistol from his nightstand that he kept there for emergencies (and which he had a license to carry), the man ventured downstairs. As a very successful author, Orion Pax could afford to live rather comfortably in a two-level house that had both an attic and a basement. Being somewhat of a bibliophile as well, he also owned a vast array of books that decorated his entire home.

Orion Pax knew that if there was an intruder, he'd have to deal with them himself. He lived out in the countryside on what was once a grand estate and there was a barn out in the fields to the left. As he crept around his home, careful to not leave himself too exposed, Orion found nothing that seemed at all out of the ordinary. Frowning and scolding himself for being so paranoid, something out of character for the man, he turned to go back upstairs and to bed. That's when he noticed something out of the dinning room window, which faced his barn.

There, just barely visible through the heavy rain and wind, a light glistened in the darkness. Orion stared out at the light, which he knew came from his barn, and narrowed his eyes. Logically, he knew it was probably just some poor folks caught in the storm too far from the city or their own home, and they had logically sought shelter. The barn was old, and just far enough away from the house that it wouldn't have been the first time someone thought it wasn't on the same land as the house.

Orion Pax did not believe in the supernatural or the fantastical, and yet, later, he would not be able to explain what, exactly, had compelled him to don his raincoat and hiking boots and set out for the old barn. He took an umbrella with him, naturally, and braved through the severe rainstorm. What was normally ten, fifteen at most, minute walk turned out into a twenty minute hike through the strong wind and blinding rain. Twice, Orion turned as if he was to start home before suddenly turning back towards the barn. He would never be able to explain what it was, exactly, that had drawn him to the barn that night. However, he was quite shocked when he arrived and entered through the doors, which had been left partially open.

Sitting there in the barn's light, frozen like deer caught in headlights on a highway, were six children whose ages appeared to range from around seventeen to maybe seven or eight. The youngest of the group was a redheaded little girl with a dark complexion and rust colored eyes, though it wouldn't be until a couple hours later that the author would think to question it. The second youngest was a boy who looked like he might be nine or ten and had blonde hair. His eyes were black-brown in coloration, though slightly more black than brown. The third child was, again, male and he had brown hair with brown eyes. He also wore glasses and appeared to be maybe a year older than the last boy, though his hair cause Orion to raise an eye brow. It was spiked straight up into the air.

It was the last three that really caught the author's attention though. The second girl seemed to be the next oldest after the second boy. She, like the little girl, wore her hair in pig-tails, but with the bonus of a thin braid. The hair was black, though the edges were died pink. She had a darker complexion, like the second boy and the little girl (although the youngest child's skin was the darkest, it seemed). She had brown eyes. The next two were clearly the oldest, both of which were male and they stood protectively in front of the other four, though that didn't hinder Orion's view. The boys looked remarkably alike, enough so to be assumed as brothers. The taller of the two had brown hair, while the shorter had black. One had blue-hazel eyes (the brown haired one), while the other had storm blue eyes. Their appearance actually startled Orion, as the two could have been mistaken for Orion's sons with the exception that Orion had electric blue eyes.

Eyes wide with shocked concern, Orion couldn't help but exclaim, "Good heavens, children! Whatever are the lot of you doing out in this storm, and so far from the city? You'll catch sick out here!"

This clearly caught all of the young ones by surprise, but they didn't get much chance to protest as Orion bustled over to where he knew there were spare jackets and such, in case a storm ever started up while he was close to the barn. He gave the smaller ones the three extra jackets he had, gave the older girl his umbrella and insisted the two older boys share his own raincoat. The children, so taken by his hospitality and very grateful, found that they could not refuse the man. Truthfully, they were quite relieved to come across someone so friendly, though they grew nervous when the man insisted they come with him to his house just across the field.

"Sir, really," the black haired boy attempted to protest. "We'll be fine. You've given us your coats and umbrella as it is!"

"Nonsense," Orion insisted. "You all - especially the little ones - will catch your death out here!"

Unable to convince him otherwise, and quite unwilling to when he picked up the littlest children so that they did not have to walk so far, the group of youngsters followed the author. So preoccupied, Orion didn't really notice when the oldest two hung back in the barn for a moment to talk in hushed voices.

"Do you think he's who we've been searching for?" asked the black haired one, glancing out at the figures disappearing into the rain towards the house light. "The _Profítis_?"

"I do not know," the brown haired male whispered back. "Let's not get our hopes up - he may just be an odd human. Let's hurry, before he realizes we fell behind."

The black haired on nodded and the two rushed after the other five. The easily caught up, Orion Pax being none the wiser to their brief conversation. The man led them into his home, insisting on finding them clean and dry clothes, and insisting they should shower, lest they catch cold. The children did not argue or attempt to, and did as their host bid them. Before long, Orion had each of them paired up in a guest room and then went to bed himself.

The man did not know what he had just let into his home, but his guests would not cause him any trouble. They were grateful for the hospitality, though the eldest of them feared that they'd just dragged an innocent human into their own mess. Unless he was the _Profítis_ they'd searched so long for, they knew they had accidentally signed his death warrant. They just hoped that the kindly stranger would not hate them for it, as they had not meant for this to happen.

* * *

 **Well, there's the idea. Orion Pax doesn't get used on his own, separate from Optimus Prime, a whole lot, so I thought I'd give it a try. I figure you all can figure out who the kids are without me saying it.**


	7. Beyond the Mirror

**I have always loved the Shattered Glass AU by the concept alone. A while back, I had a mediocre OC-centric story called _Picking Up the Pieces of the Past_ that was Shattered Glass. However, I deleted it because of the aforementioned mediocrity of the story. So, I decided to try my hand at something Shattered Glass again, but in a smaller format. However, this Glimpse is not purely Shattered Glass - it's also an interdimensional adventure story. Yeah, I know that's a little cliché at this point since most _Transformers_ Shattered Glass AUs involved crossing dimensions, but I had an idea I thought was a unique approach to it.**

* * *

 _ **Beyond the Mirror**_

 _His breath came in short, quiet gasps as his heart pounded and fear-adrenaline pumped through his veins. Everything around him was oddly big in comparison to him, but he paid it little attention as he came to a halt from his previous running, searching the room. He was trembling as he looked for a place to hide, soon realizing that his best option was the closet right next to him. Tossing a fearful look over his shoulder as a voice called out to him with false sweetness, he quickly got into the closet and closed the door as quietly, but quickly as he could. He curled up, pulling his knees to his chest and tried to keep from crying. The images of what he had just witnessed kept playing in his mind's eye and making him shake harder._

 _"Jackie~," the voice cooed. "Where are you? Come on out, you know I won't hurt you. You know she was asking for it."_

 _He only shook more, biting his arm as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to stay silent. He didn't want to be found, terrified of the person who laid beyond the closet door. Especially since he had effectively trapped himself by choosing the closet to hide in. He found that it was getting harder to breath, and knew that meant he was either going into a panic attack or starting to hyperventilate. Suddenly, the door to the closet was wrenched open and cruel ice colored eyes glared even as a smirk formed on the face._

 _"Found you~"_

Jack bolted upright on the couch of the humans' designated hang out area, gasping for breath as the nightmare faded. He had a room set up for when having a sleepover at base, but found he hadn't been able to fall asleep in there that night. Now, it seemed he wouldn't be able to sleep on the couch either. He thought that sleeping at base might make a difference to the strange, nightmarish dreams he'd been having lately, but that wasn't really working out. Taking a moment to calm his breath and calm down, Jack sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

He didn't understand these dreams, which were mostly centered around a man he had never known. His mother had never mentioned Davidson Darby being abusive, yet lately he was having dreams about his biological father being just that. The man had left when he was barely a year old, abandoning June and Jack. _It's just a dream,_ Jack, not for the first time, tried to convince himself. Knowing he wouldn't be able to get any sleep, the boy shifted so that he was facing the TV. Grabbing the remote and turning it on, he made sure the volume was turned way down. Leaning back, he began to flip through the channels.

There wasn't really anything on that was holding his interest, so he decided to pop in a game that he'd been hiding from everyone. It was his secret guilty pleasure, Skyrim. He wasn't sure why he liked the game so much, but he supposed that it had something to do with subtle morality system of the game. He played it quietly for a about an hour or two before deciding that he couldn't properly focus on the game. So, he took it out and hid it again.

The dreams kept coming back to him, not all of them had been about the man he'd never known. Sometimes, his dreams were centered around a demented version of Optimus that made his skin crawl. That Optimus' paint job was the thing that bothered him the most, as the way the pain was and the shading of it made the mech look as if he was splattered with blood and energon. He wasn't really sure _how_ he knew it was Optimus since the frame was much bulkier and covered with welding scars. The helm never looked quite right, but something told him it was Optimus and that he should be afraid.

A noise brought the young boy from his thoughts and he looked up, searching for the source of the noise. Standing up, he was very grateful that certain lights were kept on when the kids were sleeping at base so that they could get around if they needed to at night. He wasn't sure if the Autobots turned the lights off at night or not, since it seemed that Ratchet and Optimus rarely rested in any form. Even so, he decided that a little bit of exploring of the base couldn't hurt.

It was creepy, though, Jack decided about an hour later when he had wandered to a part of the base he'd never seen before. He had never realized just how _big_ the base was, and since when did they have underground levels? Did the Autobots even know those were there? Optimus might, he supposed, though that was hard to figure out. He resolved to ask the leader about it later. Jack turned to go back to the main level, blinking when he suddenly came face-to-face with a mirror. When had it gotten there?

It seemed awfully close too, which made him frown thoughtfully. He was about to go around it when he realized something. He didn't see the edges of the mirror, and the reflection looking back at him wasn't quite...him. Instead of storm-blue eyes, blue-fire eyes stared back at him with a hint of something hidden in their depths that sent a shiver down his spine. The other was paler, practically a sickly paleness, than him and seemed to be slightly taller. Jack was frozen in place upon this realization, and upon the realization that none of his expressions were shown in the other's face. Instead, a smile was on that face - a twisted, crooked smile that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Hello, **Daariam** ," the double suddenly purred.

Jack immediately bolted, a sinking feeling in his gut. _Not a mirror, a doppelgänger,_ Jack thought, his heart pounding with fear.

"Aww, don't be like that Strongdefender," the doppelgänger giggled, the voice far too close for Jack's comfort.

Before Jack could react, arms wrapped around his torso and he was swung up and over a shoulder. The other looked much thinner than him, but apparently had muscle. Jack meant to cry out, but something prevented it. The key that hung from his neck felt warm suddenly, and he got the distinct impression of an SOS pulsing out from it. His mind tried to pull him into a memory, but suddenly being tossed through a purple and white portal kind of shut down his brain for a moment. Jack scrambled to his feet once he hit the ground on the other side. For the moment, his other wasn't there and Jack immediately bolted.

The boy didn't bother paying attention to his surrounds as he ran, fleeing the strange looking groundbridge portal. Fear-adrenaline pumped through his veins and he risked a glance back when he suddenly slammed into something. Given a cry of pain and shock, Jack landed on his ass. Head spinning and on the verge of hyperventilating, Jack looked up to see what he'd run into. He feat as if his heart had stopped, breath catching in his throat and fear-adrenaline flooding him even more as his eyes took in the being before him. He barely registered the shock and surprise on the faceplates, only one thought running through his mind. _Airachnid._

He didn't stop to realize she looked different, with bubblegum pink and rose red armor. Didn't stop to take in her green optics that were wide with shock. He only knew his fear that had him scrambling to flee, his mind screaming danger at him. He didn't get far as he was snatched off the ground by the pink and red femme, whom he struggled against as best he could. Fear kept him fighting as he finally found his voice, and began calling out for help. His mind was reeling and he didn't know how to handle what was happening. He felt a sudden prick in his neck and his world went dark.

When he finally woke up again, he was severely disoriented. Everything inside of him was screaming _danger_ still, causing him to instinctively reach for a bond that wasn't there. He felt his stomach lurch and he curled up, whimpering as he tried not to think. He was remembering what happened, but didn't want to. He knew he was shaking, and was taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. He was scared to get up and look around, scared of what he would find. Voices suddenly reached his ears - most of them familiar and yet sounding not quite right. One voice loudly reached over the others.

"What do you mean I can't meet him?! Sharpbite said that it wasn't Firestarter, and you agreed that it wasn't Doc!"

"That's not what I said, and you know it!" a voice snapped back. "I said that there are differences that separate him from Firestarter, but that doesn't mean that it's _not_ the Auto-pet!"

 _Raf?_ Jack thought with a frown, slowly sitting up as he finally calmed down. The second voice wasn't Ratchet and didn't sound familiar, but the first one he was _sure_ belonged to Raf. It didn't sound right thought, the words weren't ones that Raf would say and who was Sharpbite? Raf wasn't loud either. Something was wrong and it made his stomach flip. He was terrified if he was being honest, and jumped when the door slammed open despite protests. Eyes wide, Jack looked and found his breath being caught. _Wrong wrong wrong_ , his mind chanted as he stared at who he knew was Raf, and yet it wasn't.

The hair was wrong, too dark to be Raf. The eyes were far lighter than he remembered and the boy before him wasn't wearing glasses. He looked like he was older than Raf, too, and he wasn't wearing clothes that were a size too big. Behind the boy, looking exasperated, was a much smaller version of a Decepticon he'd only seen through photos when he asked Arcee to show him so that he could recognize the danger on the spot. Knockout, the Decepticon's medic, look completely and utterly annoyed and wasn't the colors he remembered. This Knockout was red and white, the two colors looking to be equally distributed on the mech's frame. Jack estimated that the 'Con was currently only a head taller than himself. Jack also noted that the mech was covered in little imperfections that Arcee had said the medic couldn't stand.

It didn't make sense. What he was looking at didn't make sense and it caused the fear to come back full force. Again, Jack reached for that dormant or blocked bond, the emptiness heightening his fear.

"Woah! You really do look just like Firestarter!" the boy before Jack squealed, causing him to wince. "Just, you know, _healthier_! That's so cool! What's your name? Where'd you come from? Why do you look like that no-good scoundrel?!"

Jack reeled with the questions-slash-demands that came from the loud boy and Jack found himself instinctively pulling away and curling up. He was sure that the fear was plain on his face from the way the medic frowned.

"Rafael! That's quite enough!" the medic snapped. "You're only making this worse for the poor boy! Go and bother Miko or Vince! Better yet, go find that guardian of yours!"

This got a huff out of the boy, but he complied and scampered off. Jack relaxed only a fraction as he processed what had just happened. They didn't know who he was, just that he looked like his kidnapper. So these weren't the Decepticons he _knew_ at the very least. From what the medic had said, he guessed that the medic didn't fully believe he wasn't his other, but at least he knew he was unlikely to be hurt.

"I'm not sure if you're just a good actor," the medic said suddenly, getting a jump out of Jack. "Or if you're really not Firestarter. The DNA results will be done soon, so that means we'll know for sure. Once we've determined that, _then_ we'll talk. Or you'll talk to our leader."

Jack got the impression that his reactions had caused the medic to doubt that he was his double. Jack decided he had to play it safe and just curled up against the wall the bed he was on was pressed against. He didn't ask about the medic's size and just stayed there as the door was shut. Jack wasn't sure, but he thought he nodded off at some point as his head snapped up when he heard the door opening again. A girl had entered very quietly and closed the door behind her.

Jack stared at the girl who was and was not Miko Nakadai, his eyes automatically finding the differences. She was the same height, but her hair was longer and left down. She was wearing a simple t-shirt with a band name on it he didn't recognize along with knee-length shorts. A pair of headphones hung around her neck and she looked nervous, carrying a laptop under her arm.

"I know we're not supposed to talk to you until the 'Cons are certain you're not a threat or Firestarter, but I..." she hesitated, eyes colored like honey searching him. "I don't think you're either. I knew it when I saw you when Sharpbite brought you back that you're not Firestarter. I knew Fire, and you're not him. You're eyes, for one, are all wrong and I know they're not contacts." The girl nervously pushed some barely-noticeable glasses up as she shuffled forward. "So I figured I'd come keep you company. I'm Miko Nakadai."

"Jackson Darby," he offered her, gaining a look of surprise from her. He realized that she hadn't expected a response. "I guess you figured I wouldn't say anything after basically being kidnapped? You've done nothing to me, so no reason to give you the cold shoulder."

"Jackson," she repeated after a moment. "That's a nice name. I'm sorry if they scared you - Raf and Knockout, I mean. I know Raf can be loud and that Knockout doesn't have the best...manners." She sat down on a chair he hadn't noticed before, which briefly confused him but he shoved the thoughts away. "You really aren't Fire. You're voice is too deep and he's horrible at voice acting."

Jack had questions, but chose not to ask them. He let her ask her questions, which were mostly mundane ones that didn't differ from if one was at high school. Where was he from? Did he like his home? What were his parents like? She apologized about his father and he waved it off. It was odd, talking to this Miko. Jack's mind went back to when he'd ended up in the Shadow Zone with the Miko and Raf he'd known. His best guess was that he was in another dimension.

He didn't know how long he sat there talking to her, calming down from his earlier panic. It was nice, having someone to talk to. He wasn't sure when, but she had begun to tell him about the antics that Raf dragged her and Vince into. He was a bit surprised to learn that his place in this world was filled in by Vince, but he found himself not minding as he learned through Miko. He wondered about the beginning of their talk, when she talked about Firestarter - or "Fire", as she called his doppelgänger. He guessed that they'd known each other once, but didn't ask about it.

"Miko! What are you doing in here?!"

The voice startled the two of them and Jack stiffened when his eyes landed on the man who had spoken. He recognized him, his mind flashing back to when his mother was kidnapped before he forced the memory down. He took deep breaths, trying to stay calm. If either noticed the change, the girl and man didn't mention it.

"Sorry, Agent Bishop," Miko said, looking guilty. "I just wanted to talk to him a bit, keep him company. After all, Jackson didn't have the nicest introduction to the 'Cons."

"Agent Bishop", or as Jack better knew him, Silas sighed and gave the two a searching look. "Jackson, huh?" the man asked. "That's your name, kid?"

Jack nodded, unsure of why he didn't tell them his nickname as well.

"Well, Jackson," the man said. "Since you've been cleared as Firestarter, I guess we best properly introduce you to everyone and then get down to what you were doing out there. That area's been off-limits for years to the public."

Jack was confused by this, but didn't show it. He just nodded and got up, wincing as his legs had falling asleep. He stumbled a bit and the girl caught him, helping him walk until he regained his footing more properly. He nodded to her in thanks, making her smile a bit. She was quite, far too quite. It was unnerving the more Jack thought about it. When they reached the end of the hallway his "cell" had been down, Jack froze. He recognized that he was in the Silo, but he couldn't get past the fact he was seeing the Decepticons. He recognized them thanks to Arcee and his own experiences, but found that he couldn't go forward even with the knowledge that they were not the ones he knew.

 _"I never forget a face. Not even that of a human's."_

Megatron had his full attention, though he already saw the differences. Blue optics, light silver armor with blue accents. Digits that didn't end in claws and not spikes to be seen. His breath had picked up, he knew, and felt his fear spiking. He knew the fear was because of Airachnid's presence mainly, even as he avoided looking at her directly. He could feel the webbing on him, trapping him in place and the distant cries of his mother.

"-ckson! Hey! _Kid_!"

Jack snapped out of when he was roughly grabbed and lashed out without thinking, fear etched onto his face as he stumbled back into a wall. He slid down it, breathing heavily as he refused to look at anyone. He could feel so many eyes on him, causing him to squeeze his own shut. A bad idea. The memories came, plaguing his mind and causing a fearful whimper to leave him. Distantly, he could hear Raf's loud demand of what was wrong with him, as well as the familiar voice of Vince suggesting that maybe they were overwhelming Jack.

Suddenly, Jack realized that there was silence and he slowly looked up. He found himself calming down significantly now that he didn't see Airachnid. Vince, who didn't look like Vince with dark red hair instead of bright orange hair and bright green eyes rather than dark eyes, Miko, Raf, Silas, and only one of the Decepticons remained. Megatron. Jack convinced himself that he could handle this and shakily stood up, knowing he was still pale from fear.

"Jackson, are you alright?" Miko asked, concern lacing her voice and in her honey colored eyes.

"I...yeah," he finally managed to say, knowing how weak his voice sounded.

He could see how Megatron was looking at him, could see the thoughtful expression. Something told him that Megatron knew that his reaction wasn't just from being overwhelmed. His chest suddenly felt warm and he only just refrained himself from reaching up to touch the Key. He stiffened when it pulsed, seeing Megatron also stiffen with wide optics as he stared down at Jack, who paled considerably. He glanced around and saw that Vince was staring at him with disbelief and found himself growing nervous. There was confusion from Raf and Miko, who sensed something was wrong. Silas' expression was unreadable.

"It would appear that Acer came through on his promise that he would find another way to get ahold of the Key," Megatron finally spoke up, relaxed again and the thoughtful look having returned. "Though, it would appear that it backfired on him slightly."

Jack wasn't sure he liked the look he was getting from the silver mech.

* * *

 **Whelp, I hope you enjoyed this Glimpse! The next one is going to be an actual one-shot instead of part of an idea for a multi-chapter story. I realized that I had never actually done an honest-to-goodness one-shot outside of _Spark of the Heart_. And that one was horribly written, really.**


	8. Bond

**So this Glimpse is going to be an actual one-shot. It won't have anything that'll make it part of some idea for a multi-chapter story. I would like to note that I'm pulling inspiration from Foxbear, Ardent Aspen, and Cyber Rogue for this one, so go check those three out!**

* * *

 _ **Bond**_

 _Starguard._

Optimus Prime was a mech who tended to push himself beyond his limits when it came to doing things, such as staying up all hours of the lunar-cycle to monitor something, do some research, or otherwise occupy his time with something useful. He knew it caused his medic's plating to shift in irritation and got him half-concerned, half-disapproving looks from his second-in-command. However, he couldn't fully help it. He was a bit of what humans would refer to as an insomniac, though in the three years of Megatron's absence and a lull in Decepticon activity, he'd gotten better about recharging his systems for the lunar-cycle. His original excuse had been the Decepticons could attack at any point, and that still worked for the first year of Megatron's absence.

 _Starguard._

Now, though, it wasn't the Decepticons that kept him alert. It was a single thought, tied to a single boy that he couldn't shake. He _knew_ the sp- child was safe with his second-in-command, but over the months he'd known the boy...something had changed. He'd started to grow more anxious every time the child was sent home, eagerly waiting for when he would arrive late the next day. Unless it was the weekend, in which he'd arrive early. Some days, he found himself giving into temptation and having Arcee go out on patrol, promising her he'd pick the boy up personally. He should have known that Ratchet would notice this "odd" behavior.

 _Starguard._

The name tugged at him insistently, begging him to speak it aloud. Optimus refrained, however, no matter how much it pained his spark to do so. He knew he could never speak it aloud, no matter how desperately he desired to. Instead of letting the name manifest in his mind again, he pulled up his memory banks as he worked. He let the memories of when he first noticed that there was something he desperately wanted to call out when his optics first landed on the human mechling known as Jackson Darby, although the preferred designation was Jack.

He had just been sent a comm. by Ratchet that informed him of the arrival of the children Arcee had accidentally involved - with an added third to the original two. Female this time. He had been in his chambers, mulling over how best to explain to the human youths what exactly they'd been pulled into. The comm. directed him to start approaching, but he had frozen in the shadows that hid him from sight of the children. The oldest, the one he realized was Jack when the other two spoke up their names, had caught his attention. His spark had pulsed, almost urgently, at the sight of the boy.

In that instant, messages had pinged his HUD, trying to get his attention. Without bothering to check them, he had silenced them all. However, his processor was reeling as he tried to discern why he had reacted in such a way to the human mechling, the human boy. He didn't bother Ratchet with it, figuring it was probably nothing. Though, he did notice that he was showing a bit more emotion to Fowler than he usually did, and concerns that Fowler would discover and take away their knew charges burdened his processor.

Again, Optimus ignored it. He convinced himself that he was simply stressed, though there had been nothing to stress him at the time. The next day, Jack's declaration of wanting nothing to do with the Autobots or their war... It was understandable, but something about that declaration twisted his spark painfully, as if he was about to lose something very precious. He wasn't sure what surprised him more - his elation when Jack returned the day after that, or that Arcee was the one who convinced him to come back. He felt grateful to his second-in-command, though the feeling confused him greatly.

The passage of time caused the suddenly strong emotions to confuse him more and more as they grew stronger. His pride at how Jack had taken charge during the Scraplet infestation, his horror and fear for Jack when Ratchet informed him that both the boy and Miko were on the train with the "Dingus" and the tracks had been blown by their new enemy, Silas. No incident, however, had caused him more horror or fear upon getting the proper report for it than learning that Jack had been exposed to the ex-torturer and current rogue, Airachnid. Her reputation was well known and well feared among the Autobots, and it had taken every ounce of restraint in that the mech had to not track Jack down and spirit him off to some hidden, safe corner of the base to make sure he was unharmed and safe.

It had been that incident that caused the name to finally come to the forefront of his mind, and caused the mech to realize why he had been acting so strangely. The shock of that realization, which he had in the middle of the night, had caused him to very nearly collapse as the alerts and messages he'd suppressed nearly overwhelmed his processor. The shock of the realization had him reeling for days afterwards.

 _Starguard._

The name plagued him, but he knew he could not speak it. The boy had a carrier, a mother already and he could not let himself accept this connection he had formed with the boy as he knew it could be seen as an attempt to take claim of the boy away from his rightful mother. It caused him suffering to keep the name to himself, to keep the bond clamped tightly shut. Ratchet would throw a fit about Optimus doing this should he find out, so the Prime was careful around his teammates as well as the children. He couldn't let anyone figure it out. The Matrix hummed with disapproval, though Optimus couldn't fathom why it would be invested in the bond. More than once, he had caught the energy of the Matrix trying to reopen the bond to the child and it had been hard to deny the Matrix itself that.

It was the early hours of the morning and Optimus hadn't gotten a moment of recharge. He heard the pedefalls of his old friend, and knew he would be reprimanded. Both knew it may as well fall on broken audios with all the good the lectures did.

"Optimus."

The Prime paused, confusion turning in his processor as he registered the grief and disbelief in the medic's voice. Turning blue optics towards the mech, Optimus was taken aback by the grief-stricken look he was being given. Something had happened, his processor running through the scenarios that could have happened. Had the Decepticons found the children? _Had they found_ _Starguard?_ Optimus shoved those thoughts aside and focused his attention on his old friend.

"Ratchet, what is it?" Optimus asked, allowing concern to seep into his voice.

For a moment, the medic seemed to struggle with the words. Finally, he exvented heavily before managing to speak, "Optimus, MECH found Jack's residence. Early tonight, they kidnapped his mother. Airachnid was with them."

A cold feeling settled in his spark at the look in the medic's optics, a look he had seen far too recently with the offlining of Cliffjumper. Someone had died, another casualty of their conflict. Optimus found himself fearing mostly that it had been Jack or his mother, knowing how capable Arcee was. He searched his medic's optics, and found himself reaching out with his EM field, knowing he was begging for none to have been lost.

"Arcee and Jack are fine," Ratchet whispered after a moment. "But Jack's mother... Jack was right there, Optimus."

Optimus felt as if something had broken, both inside of him and inside of his medic. He knew who the medic was recalling to have suffered the same fate, and Optimus did not deny that he remembered it too. If Airachnid had been involved, then history may as well have repeated itself. In that moment, Optimus knew that Jack had to be informed that he wasn't alone. Someone had to provide comfort and so, impulsively, Optimus opened the bond and reached through his sorry and willingness to offer comfort. He felt the mechling's confusion and gratitude. He felt it as the smaller lifeforce latched onto the bond, clinging to it as if it was the only life-line it had. There would be time to answer questions later.

Optimus turned his attention to looking up information about orphaned humans, wanting to know if Jack would be alright. He knew the government would insist on taking the boy away, and found his spark clenching as he realized just how horribly that could go.

"Contact Agent Fowler," Optimus said, catching his medic's attention. "This is our fault, and we will take responsibility. Inform them that Jack is more than welcome to live here, the other children can help us learn what to do to take care of Jack." He knew that the medic was shocked by his firm, authoritative tone on the matter. "I will go to Jack and Arcee, to make sure that neither has sustained any true injury."

He left no room for argument as he transformed and sped out of the base, following the bond to where his sparkling and second-in-command were. Now that June was...he couldn't afford to ignore his new responsibility. He knew that this might cause problems on the battlefield should more than his processor and spark act on the fact that he had formed a creator-creation bond with the child. The worst thing that he could think of happening now was Megatron realizing it, and he prayed to Primus that Megatron would never find out.

Reaching the location of Jack and Arcee, he saw the boy react to him being here. Before anyone else could really realize what had happened, Jack was in Optimus' cab and had completely broken down. Optimus offered what comfort he could, focusing on the bond he'd tried so hard to ignore. He knew Jack had questions and he promised to answer them when the boy was over the grieving period. He talked to Arcee over the comm. as her confused EM brushed against him, silently demanding answers as to his and Jack's odd reaction just then.

He saw her stiffen when he was done explaining to her, could read the shock as her door-wings went completely rigid. He could see from the way her optics were twitching that her own processor was reeling at this revelation. He was a bit surprised when her EM brushed his again, this time with worry tinted to it and he realized that she was afraid she had overstepped bounds at some point. He assured her that there was nothing that had been breached, which caused her to relax. The two were ignoring the humans milling about, all of them well aware of what the two were.

It took a few weeks to get everything sorted out properly, from Mrs. Darby's funeral to Optimus pretty much putting his pede down an informing the human government that Jack was _his_ charge now and no you could not take him away. Nothing truly changed in the base once Jack managed to start recovering from the loss of his mother, other than the fact that Jack had taken to following Optimus around when bored or feeling despair and the fact that Optimus had taken to giving Jack a proper Cybertronian education on top of his normal human education.

If anything, the only major change was the ferocity with which the three human children were protected. The Decepticons had learned to become more subtle in their movements and left the Autobots alone when it came to mining energon. There was confusion on the Nemesis when it came to the sudden increased aggression from the Autobots, which Megatron immediately blamed on Starscream. The incompetent second-in-command had to have done _something_ to increase the Autobot's aggressions, right?

It wasn't until sometime later, when Megatron saw the human boy known as Jack with the Key to Vector Sigma that things suddenly fell into place for the warlord. The odd inquiries of worry from Orion Pax - _"Megatronus, where is Starguard? He must be so worried!"_ \- made any sort of sense. Granted, his moment of shock at the realization allowed the Prime to get his memories and the Matrix back, but it left Megatron with a lot to contemplate. Like, first off, _he was an uncle_.

Somehow, that thought was the most terrifying thing in the universe. More terrifying that learning he apparently had a _sparkling_ , who kept trying to kill him.

* * *

 **So, this was not how I originally planned this one to turn out. It wasn't going to be AU where June died and I didn't plan to end it on that note, but it just kind of happened. And it feels right. Anyways, that's all I have for this Glimpse! The next one will also just be a one-shot rather than a glimpse into a multi-chapter story idea.**


	9. Truths, Dares, and Answers

***cheerful* In this Glimpse, a simple game of Truth or Dare turns out to be a shockingly effective way to bond and learn about one another for Team Prime. Questions previously left unspoken get answered, hidden talents are brought to the light, and some mannerisms of the children are finally explained away! This is set after the Orion Pax** **episodes.**

* * *

 ** _Truths, Dares, and Answers_**

"We totally need to have a slumber party to celebrate the fact that Optimus is back!"

Miko's declaration the day after Optimus' memories had been successfully returned had caused a bit of groaning - specifically from Ratchet, who dreaded having the "annoying sparklings" around overnight _again_ (it had happened seven times, all of which Ratchet despised because of Miko's habit of blasting her noise in the wee hours of the night), and Jack, who knew that Miko would try and gain blackmail material on _everyone_ with the "party" somehow. Raf and Bumblebee had been immediately excited, so of course everyone agreed to it anyways. Hardly _anyone_ could say no to the two youngest of the group. Well, Bumblebee was actually the equivalent of seventeen years old (something that had shocked the children to learn), but he was still considered younger by many of his mannerisms. And the fact that Cybertronians viewed age differently.

June had been the one to put her foot down, however, and say that it couldn't happen until Friday night. The kids still had school and Jack had work, after all. Jack had been dreading it, having managed to get it out of Bulkhead that Miko planned to have everyone (including Ratchet and Optimus) play Truth or Dare. In order to prepare for any truths and dares that she might hurl at him and Raf, Jack had complied a list of things he should practice and responses to any truths. Raf had insisted on preparing his own, and Jack hadn't pressed the issue.

Jack was mainly worried about what he'd do when Miko inevitably tried to make him sing something, knowing that she would have some rule of some sort to prevent him from avoiding dares entirely. Embarrassing questions he could handle, singing in front of people - even close friends - he could not. Jack actually had pretty bad stage fright and hated to be put on the spot for _anything_ , hence why he usually was doing his best to not be noticed. The whole week, Jack had also been consulting with his mother about the truth he knew Raf would want to ask him about. The boy had tried, multiple times, to get information about it before, but Jack and June hadn't been comfortable sharing it before.

June wouldn't be able to join, so she told Jack that she trusted his judgement on what to tell the others. Jack was still very insecure about it, though, and hoped that Raf didn't think to ask about it. He really wasn't sure how he would handle giving the explanation, even if he only gave part of the truth. Jack had written it out multiple times, but found that he wasn't satisfied with any of the ways he worded it by the time Friday came.

When he arrived at the base, Jack wasn't at all surprised with the decorations he saw. What did surprise him, however, was the fact that Optimus and Ratchet seemed to have not found a way to escape. It was here that Jack observed Optimus' natural curiosity peeking through his normally stoic exterior. Jack couldn't help the smile that curled onto his face when got off his partner and headed for the human's designated little area. The couches and stuff had been moved, making room for sleeping bags. The kids did have actual rooms that the Autobots had given them, but the kids still liked camping out on the little living area they had.

"Where's Miko?" Jack inquired when he realized that she wasn't there.

"She and Bulkhead went to one of the back storage rooms to grab something," Raf said, looking up from the computer he was on.

"I see. Been scrubbing the web of photos of the 'bots?" Jack asked.

"Naturally," Raf smiled at the older boy.

It wasn't long before Miko arrived with Bulkhead, smirking. She a notepad with her, and Jack just _knew_ that it contained all her dares and questions. She probably had some other ideas beyond truth or dare.

"So, what are we doing?" Arcee asked. "This is a bit different than the small party we threw for Wheeljack's arrival."

"Well, I figured we could play a game called Truth or Dare," Miko grinned. "Basically, we take turns asking "Truth or Dare?" and then whoever we asked has to pick one. If they choose truth, they have to answer a question truthfully. If they pick dare, they have to do whatever the asker wants them to do."

"And what would the purpose of playing such a game be? To gain blackmail?" demanded Ratchet, who gave Miko a suspicious glare.

"Or, you know, get to know each other better," Miko added. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and realized that we barely know much about each other beyond the obvious."

"That is true," Optimus noted. "We do not often have time to properly socialize."

Miko grinned, knowing that everyone had pretty much just agreed. She turned to Jack, but was surprised when he beat her to it.

"Bulkhead, truth or dare?" the boy asked.

"Uh, truth, I guess," Bulkhead said, deciding he didn't want to find out if Jack was vindictive. There had been an...accident a few weeks back that involved Jack, Bulkhead, and paint. And Bulkhead learning that Jack had wicked aim.

"What habit of Miko's do you find to be the most annoying?" Jack inquired.

 _Definitely_ _vindictive_ , Bulkhead decided as he glanced nervously at Miko. The girl was looking up at him with narrowed eyes, as if daring to say _anything_ about her was even remotely annoying.

"I guess it would be the fact that she constantly runs through the groundbridge," Bulkhead admitted after a few moments of long silence. "I always worry when she does that, and kind of wish she'd stay at base. Where it's safe."

Jack threw Miko an _'I told you so'_ look, before settling back. He then thought of something and said, "It's your turn now, Bulkhead."

The mech looked around, unsure of who to ask and having no ideas. He then decided to turn to Ratchet.

"Ratchet, truth or dare?"

"Truth," the medic said, deciding to take the safe route as well.

"When was the last time you heard Optimus laugh?" Bulkhead asked, recalling the incident just before Unicron showed up in which Jack had wanted to show Optimus something funny.

The medic paused, seeming to consider the question. Green-tinted blue optics glanced at Optimus, concern briefly flashing through them. This did not go unnoticed, and the others wondered why the medic was hesitating. The medic then seemed to come to a decision.

"It was before all-out war broke out on Cybertron," the medic answered finally. "Just before he and Megatron went their separate ways, in fact."

Before anyone could comment, Ratchet turned to Arcee and asked her the question.

"Dare," the femme declared boldly.

"I dare you to listen to Miko's music for an hour straight," Ratchet said.

The femme gapped at the medic for a moment, her pink-blue optics wide. She finally managed to nod, closing her mouth. She thought for a moment before turning to Optimus. She wasn't sure what made her choose the leader, but she asked anyways. The Prime seemed to weigh the merits of both before settling on truth. It seemed that most everyone was somewhat afraid of the dare option.

"Which of the five humans we know is your favorite?" Arcee asked after a few moments of thinking.

Optimus seemed to be taken aback by the question, surprise briefly flickering across the mech's face. He looked down at their young human friends, and reflected. In the end, he found his thoughts always returned to a singular human: Jack. The boy reminded him so much of... The Prime banished the thought before it could be finished. No need to drag up old, painful memories. Memories that mattered very little at this point in time.

"While I do not relish in choosing a favorite, I must admit that I am quite fond of Jack," Optimus finally said, taking in the surprise on the boy's face.

While none of the others beyond Jack seemed at all surprised, only two held hidden looks of understanding. He knew that Bumblebee and Ratchet knew who he was thinking of. He had often caught them both staring after Jack with expressions of pain. Among them walked a painful reminder of what had been lost, though the boy didn't even realize it. Once again, he had to shift his thoughts before painful memory files were dragged up, but not before flashes of a grey sweater and bright hazel eyes full of happiness flashed through his processor.

The game continued on like that for some time. As the game went on, they learned that Miko had never once received a real punishment for her actions until meeting the Autobots. Which explained _everything_ about the girl. As for Raf, it turned out that he was actually living in a large foster home. None of the kids were biologically an Esquavel, but were at least fosters. In fact, Raf had just been officially adopted and had his last name changed that year, which brought the curious question of what it had been before. It had been Lancaster, apparently. Raf didn't know much about his originally family: he'd been with the Esquavels for almost ten years. He was perfectly fine with that, though.

Jack had been right about Miko daring him to sing, though he hadn't expected her to pick the Miley Cyrus song "Wrecking Ball". He actually liked the song, despite the initial reaction to the video it'd came out with. Sure, the video was bad, but the song had a fairly good message hidden in it. He had felt slightly smug at the stunned look on Miko's face as she discovered that Jack could _really_ sing. He hadn't done in a year, so he was a bit off and out of practice, but he still had a pretty good voice.

"You didn't know that, just until this last year, Jack was in choir?" Raf had asked with surprise. "That's part of why Vince hates Jack. Towards the end of last year, Jack utterly _schooled_ Vince in a rap battle."

Jack had blushed at the praise, though the kids had to explain what rap was. And then explain the concept of a rap battle to the confused Autobots. Jack sometimes forgot that they didn't know a whole lot about Earth still, though he couldn't help but think that Optimus, Ratchet, and Bumblebee had been faking their confusion. It was something that Jack had only noticed over the past three months, but it seemed like those three had a better grasp on the concepts of humanity than Arcee and Bulkhead.

"Optimus, truth or dare," Jack suddenly said, craving answers and hoping Optimus would pick truth.

"Truth," the red Autobot picked, conceding to Jack's will without realizing that's what the boy wanted.

"How long have you, Ratchet, and Bumblebee been on Earth?"

He knew that Arcee had only been on Earth for about two and half years now, with it being Bulkhead's third year by now. He noticed how this seemed to catch the three mentioned off guard. Bumblebee twittered something nervously, though Raf looked confused by what Bumblebee said.

"Bumblebee's asking why you want to know that," Raf finally translated. "Bumblebee, why would it be a problem with Jack asking that?"

"Just... Just sensitive memories," Ratchet was the one to answer. "But as for the answers..."

"Bumblebee arrived on this planet in the year 1987," Optimus finally said, voice soft. "Ratchet and I originally arrived twenty years after that, in 2007."

"So you've been on Earth for twenty six years?" Raf asked, surprise in his voice. "And Bumblebee has been here for forty six years? And yet you know so little about our planet and species?"

"...We knew more, at one point," Ratchet answered, hesitance in his voice. "But...we purged our memory files to some degree. We never expected..."

 _"We-never-thought-we'd-interact-with-civilians-ever-again,"_ Bumblebee's radio suddenly sprang to life, the mech's door wings drooping.

Sensing the topic to be sensitive, Jack switched the subject and reminded Optimus it was his turn. That's when Optimus surprised Jack by asking him. Sensing that Optimus had a question, Jack choose truth. He was curious as to what Optimus wanted to ask.

"Your c...mother mentioned that your father...left," Optimus said, hesitance clear in his body language. "I was wondering if you could share what happened?"

It was the question that Jack had been expecting, dreading, but he hadn't expected it to come from Optimus. He thought it might come from Raf or Miko. Maybe Arcee, but certainly not Optimus.

"Well, some people would say that Dad abandoned us," Jack started. "But I never saw it like that. He said he'd come back, that he just had to find some old friends he was worried about and had lost contact with. That was six years ago, when I was eleven."

"So, he just left? Just like that?" Miko seemed confused. "All because of a few friends?"

"Dad was always a loyal man," Jack explained. "He always told me that actions are louder than words, and he wanted to be sure that his friends knew that he hadn't forgotten them. Besides, he never knew what happened to them after they went their separate ways, and he always said that one of those friends was a like a second father to him."

"He sounds like a nice guy," Raf said.

"He was, and he's the one who taught me to always be responsible," Jack said. "He always told me, "Jack, you got to always be responsible. If you want to succeed in this world, you got to have responsibility for your own actions. You have to keep your chin up, even when things get rough." Whenever he would tell me that, he'd then tell me his family's motto."

"The Darbys have a motto?" Miko asked, curious.

"Not the Darbys," Jack disagreed. "Dad chose to take on Mom's last name rather than have her take his. His family's motto was "no sacrifice, no victory." To be victorious at something, like achieving a dream, you have to sacrifice something."

The motto had made Optimus start, dragging a memory file to the surface. A memory that was both cherished, and painful.

 _The city was a wreck, debris and mangled vehicles lay around them. He could still hear the cries of the civilians all around him. How many casualties had already occurred? Pain filled this spark at the thought, though he found himself distracted by movement on his chest. He was still holding the boy close, could see the fear and the determination in those alien optics. Hazel, a color he'd never known until Earth. Clutched in the sparkling's grasp was the hope, the life of his race._

 _"Sam... You risked your life to protect the Cube?" confused awe filled his voiceprint as he looked at the fragile creature, who he knew must be in pain from being tossed around._

 _"No sacrifice, no victory," the boy before him breathed, filling the mech with a sense of respect that he had not felt in a long time._

"Optimus?"

Blinking away the memories, the mech realized he had slipped up. His mask had fallen as the memory had taken him in it's grasp, the motto having hit a spot far too close to home. But as he looked down at Jack, a desperate feeling gripped his spark and he ignore his comrades for the moment. He could see something of Sam in Jack's face, and found he had to know for certain.

"What was your father's name?" Optimus asked, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

Despite his confusion, Jack answered, "Sam. His name was Sam Witwicky before he met and married my mother."

The sharp intake that came next came from Ratchet and a desperate, hopeful whine left Bumblebee. Optimus lowered himself to be closer to eye level with the children.

"Was his middle name James? And were his parents named Ronald and Judith?" Optimus asked quietly, watching as Jack's eyes went wide with shock.

"How-how do you-" the boy stumbled over his words before it clicked. "...You know my dad. You're the friends he was talking about." Jack's voice had lowered to nearly a whisper, but it was easily heard in the now dead silent room. "You're the one he looked up to."

"We have not seen Samuel in years," Ratchet said, voice soft and pained. "We had feared... we had feared he had offlined. We wanted, desperately wanted to search for him, but we could not bring ourselves to. We had already destroyed his normal life once before - if he had found a way to move on, how could we be so selfish as to shatter his world once again? So long as we did not look, even Megatron would believe the boy dead."

 _"The-last-time-we-saw-Sam-was-twenty-years-ago,"_ Bumblebee chipped in through his radio.

"Does... does he not keep contact with you and your mother?" Optimus asked, a hesitant hopefulness in his voice.

Jack looked at the titan, and could see the desperation in his optics. He had no idea how close his dad was to these beings, but from what he observed, he was _very_ close to at least these three specifically.

"He sometimes forgets to call, but I do have his number," Jack said. "I could probably call him, though there is no guarantee he'd answer."

"How come you guys never talked about knowing other civilians in the past?" Miko couldn't help but ask. "And why would you think he was dead? What happened?"

The three Autobots looked at each other, clearly uncomfortable.

"How about we wait for explanations until after I get ahold of Dad, and let him know that you're all here?" Jack suggested. "And yes, I'll be careful in the way I tell him."

"That would be... Best," Optimus nodded. "However, let us wait for the morning to do so. And...perhaps we should inform Agent Fowler and you mother of this development first as well. Agent Fowler can contact other friends who I'm sure that Sam will want to reunite with."

Jack nodded at this, and the "party" continued on. However, Jack and Optimus opted to recede and spend some time alone together instead. Optimus had finally gotten a piece of his old family back, though in a way he'd never imagined. Jack, by the relationship he had developed with Sam, was basically his grand-creation. Optimus held this knowledge dear, and looked forward for seeing that boy who haunted his memories again.

"You being related to Sam," Optimus murmured as he settled, holding Jack to his chestplates, "makes many of your actions make a lot more sense. To me, at least. He was always throwing himself into danger to save those he cared for."

"Mom always did say that I took after Dad far more than I took after her," Jack said, smiling at the Prime. "Though, I guess that means I take after you too, since Dad mentioned his father-figure having a huge impact on his life."

"And he had far more of an impact on our lives than he ever realized," Optimus murmured. "Ratchet was not always quite this grumpy, but he became so after we believed we had lost Sam. He was quite fond of the boy. And Bumblebee... the two were like brothers and Sam had been Bumblebee's first charge."

Jack was surprised, but interested by this. The two continued to talk quietly, ignoring the occasional curious glances they got. Especially from the frustrated Arcee, who didn't like being left out of the loop and in suspense as she currently was.

Either way, it seemed as if there was always more to things than meets the eye.

* * *

 **Okay... So this went a little bit longer than I originally thought. Originally, this was just to be a cute little bonding thing, but the idea of Jack being Sam's son or otherwise related to him has plagued me for years now. I just _had_ to act upon it. Also, I guess I'll eventually have to conjure up a sequel to this Glimpse for the reunion of Sam and the Autobots. Whenever I get to it, you can probably expect Protective-Daddy-Mode to pop up for Optimus.**


	10. Jack Blames Miko

**This Glimpse was requested by Steelcode! So shout out to them! *grins* In this one, Jack gets to meet Sam Witwicky thanks to an accident, oh and Green Ratchet.**

* * *

 _ **Jack Blames Miko**_

To say that Jackson Darby was having a bad day would have been a _massive_ understatement. And, once again, it could _all_ be linked back to one very annoying pseudo little sister of Jack's named Miko Nakadai. For some reason, she had decided that, despite them having a four day weekend from school, she needed to show up outside his house with Bulkhead and blast their damnable shriek metal in order to wake him. Then there was the fact that she dragged him _literally_ all over the country via the Groundbridge to buy various items at _hundreds_ of different stores in a matter of two, maybe three hours.

And then came the usual Decepticons pop up, Autobots go after, and Miko decides she's going to go watch. And he has to chase her down to drag her back to base, _again_. Except this time, as he was following her through, the Groundbridge _blew up_. Now, he was currently sitting on the cold concrete floor of some kind of hanger, staring down a green Autobot he's never seen before. He's sore all over, pissed as Unicron, and tense because he's not sure that he's safe. Sure, Autobot insignia. However, he _still_ remembered Makeshift, the Decepticon who'd masqueraded as Wheeljack.

"Hey Ratchet-"

A voice broke the trance the two were in and both turned their attention to the new comer, who'd stopped talking abruptly. It was a boy around Jack's age, possibly a little older, who had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. The boy locked eyes with Jack, who felt a strange sense of recognition when it came to the boy. Then there was the fact that, beneath his shirts, the Key gave a pulse of recognition as well. Almost immediately after Jack felt the pulse, the boy briefly rubbed his own chest while still staring.

"What do you need, Samuel?" the green Autobot - Ratchet, apparently, though Jack wasn't buying it - asked.

"Oh, uh, I was just wondering if you were busy. Who's he?" Samuel replied, tilting his head as he stared at Jack.

Jack stared right back, slowly rising to his feet as the attention was brought right back to him.

"I do not know. He just suddenly appeared with a crack, almost akin to a Personal Space Bridge in use," 'Ratchet' responded.

"Oh, really?" Sam now looked interested as he walked closer. "Hi! I'm Sam Witwicky! Well, _Samuel_ , but only Ratchet addresses me as such. What's your name? How'd you get here?"

"...Jackson Darby, though everyone calls me Jack," the Key bearer replied after a few heartbeats. "And I got caught in the explosion of a Ground Bridge... which is a scaled down version of a Space Bridge..."

"A Ground Bridge?!" Sam asked, amazement in his voice. "But Ratchet only _just_ started on trying to make such a thing!"

Jack stared at the two as they both looked at him curiously. This version of Ratchet seemed much more relaxed than the one he was used to, and less willing to jump to conclusions. Jack paused and considered his own thought process before staring up at the ceiling.

"Just _great_. I'm in an Alternate Universe," he said. "First the Shadowzone, now _this_. Miko, when I get home, I'm going to _kill_ you."

* * *

 **I really want to explore Jack being lost in the Bayverse, but I couldn't come up with a good idea. So, I just decided to plant a little seed and now will hope that it grows.**


End file.
